Catching up--at last

Welcome to November!  Time has fallen back and the temperatures have fallen with it, it seems!  Here in Dahlonega we didn't have any of the early snow fall that happened over much of the southern Appalachian region a couple of days ago but we surely had colder weather.

What a month October was!  I'll see if I can catch up a bit with this post and maybe stay more current with the blog.  So here goes...

September ended with final details of installation for "Woven Together"--the exhibit by Tapestry Weavers South members that was held in the Library and Technology Center at the University of North Georgia from Oct. 1-31.  Pat Williams and I were co-chairpeople for the exhibit and the Joan Baxter workshop scheduled for Oct. 7-10.  First, Here are a few views from the exhibit:

The exhibit was held on all three levels of the library with the long hallways being the primary display area.  On the third floor there were two walls on opposite sides of the large reading room, in addition to the hallway that were used for exhibit.  On one wall, tapestries were displayed.

On the other side of the room were items related to design process. We invited participants to send design work in any shape, form or fashion.  Because the exhibit was being held in an educational setting it seemed appropriate to share with students (and other visitors) a bit about the background work that goes into the creation of a tapestry.  Comments made about the design wall have all been good.

A detail of the center section of the design wall display.

I had a demo loom set up at the library and was able to spend several afternoons there throughout the month, weaving and talking to anyone who was interested.

But the first of the month was also busy with travel... in fact, at the end of September, my husband and I left for few day's trip to Baltimore.

We drove up to visit friends and to attend several events during the opening days of an exhibit at American Visionary Art Museum, "The Visionary Experience: St. Francis to Finster"

Before leaving Baltimore on October 3rd, we made a quick visit to the Baltimore Museum of Art, always one of our favorite stops when we're there.

Soon after our return,  Joan Baxter arrived for the workshop that she was going to be teaching for Tapestry Weavers South.  I mentioned a bit about her workshop in the last blog post but here are a few more photos.

Joan's samples were just beautiful and she invited us to handle and to photograph them.  What a treat.

A reception for the exhibit was held on October 8 and followed by a talk by Joan Baxter.  Here's Joan talking to Terri Bryson and Joan Griffin, workshop participants, and Jon Eric Riis, one of the invited artists for the exhibit.

Jon Riis and Silvia Heyden were invited to participate along with the TWS members.  They were given the distinction of becoming our first honorary life members of the organization, as well.  Jon Eric Riis and Silvia Heyden have done so much to promote the art of tapestry in the world during the past decades.  They both live in the Southeast region of the U.S. and it seemed very fitting to present them with the honor.

Following the reception and talk, the workshop participants and several others were invited to our house to have soup and salad... all delicious... from Picnic Cafe in town.  

Picnic Cafe also provided our lunches during the workshop.  Here's Janette Meetze's lovely sketch of the front of the building.  Janette was in the workshop and not only did many sketches during her stay, but made an wonderful tapestry during the workshop.  Check out her blog post to read more about her experiences in Dahlonega.

Courtesy of Janette Meetze

The workshop ended on the 10th but Joan Baxter's return flight to Scotland wasn't until the 12th.  She stayed on in Dahlonega and she was able to wind down a bit from her hectic month of teaching all across the U.S.  Out to dinner-- Joan and my husband having quite lively chats about assorted things.  

I was winding down myself following the workshop, the exhibit, and the Baltimore trip when an opportunity to have a week's residency at Hambidge Center came up.  I jumped on it and was off to Hambidge on October 16 for a brief stay.   Even though I was only there for a few days, I was able to get quite a bit of research underway for an upcoming class I'll be teaching at John C. Campbell Folk School in February.  The class is called "William Morris, Tapestry, and You!" and in preparation for that, I'm reading about Morris, looking closely at his designs, and hoping inspirations from his incredible work might be developed into ideas for small tapestry images.

A couple of the sketches done while at Hambidge:

Some photos of beautiful Hambidge Center:

Cove Studio 

During the Hambidge week, I came home overnight to help my husband with reception at Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia.  He curated an exhibit of work by Ed Gillam and the opening was on the 23rd of October.  Howard Finster's Paradise Garden, is looking so good with all of the work being done by the Foundation to restore and renovate the environment.  

Selfie in the mirror house... incredible reflections....

Add a few other things to the month... a pumpkin carving party--

... setting up the floor loom for a bit of weaving from 1800's weaving drafts found at the local library...

...visiting Lillian E. Smith Center to give a brief presentation to the board of advisors for the Center about how valuable I've found my times in residence there...

... and teaching in the UNG weaving class for a few days -- tapestry weaving, of course!

And that's about it for my October.

Now... on to November adventures!